The Single Quote (') vs the Double Quote (") writing styles
By Ptrikha_2
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
India
April 6, 2021 12:16pm CST
Today I was reading out an English lesson to my child.
The narration was in first person and used sentences like
"I planned something great for tomorrow...."
That is the statements or the dialoges are in Double Quotes(").
Yet in many stories as well as Novels now a days, I see the usage of Single Quotes (').
I wonder what causes this difference. Is it a broader practice to follow one style
over another or a personal preference.
And as to my preference. Well it is "Double Quotes".
11 people like this
12 responses
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
7 Apr 21
@JudyEv
So it boils down to a matter of choice?
3 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
7 Apr 21
@JudyEv
Ok. The publisher can have personal preferences.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (457973)
• Switzerland
7 Apr 21
It is not matter of preferences but different rules from a country to another. We never use single quotes, it is not considered correct, always double quotes. The single quotes are used for a quotation inside quotation marks.
Example:
"When I want it 'immediately,' I mean right now" said the customer.
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
7 Apr 21
@LadyDuck
Yes country wise variations are indeed there. The single quote is something that I have seen being used by many people.
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
8 Apr 21
@LadyDuck
Yes I think it is a kind of British vis-a-vis American English.
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@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
9 Apr 21
@LadyDuck
Different language rules and practices !
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86732)
• United States
6 Apr 21
Double quotes (as you say) mean someone is speaking.
Single quotes is to emphasize certain words that person said, or to make some words 'stand out'.
No doubt someone will come along to correct and dissect what I said here in plain terms. Quotations are used uniformly across English speaking places. In other words, no difference about the use of quotation marks, both double and single.
Example(s):
John said "I will show you how it is done."
Clara said "I will show you how it is done in the 'style' of using it."
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
9 Apr 21
It depends... In the US we use double quotation marks when we are talking in script. We use the single quotation mark when we are repeating something someone else says. "Charlie said 'Hello'" said John.
In other English speaking countries you use double quotes in books and single quotes in newspapers.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
9 Apr 21
@DaddyEvil
Oh a new point to note :
Books vs newspapers.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203454)
• Nashville, Tennessee
6 Apr 21
Basically I know about these differences. Use single quotation marks in headlines. Use quotation marks to signal that someone is speaking, for titles of songs, short stories, short poems, magazine or newspaper articles, and chapter titles.
https://proofreadanywhere.com/single-quotes-vs-double-quotes/
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
6 Apr 21
@CarolDM
That is quite informative. Yet still I somehow like the Double Quotes more.
One reason is also that we use single quote(') in Programming for character or large string values.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (57599)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
6 Apr 21
In American English the single quotes can be used in different ways, while double quotes are used to indicate speach, authors might use single quotes to enfize a word or phrase when a person is speaking. Or for other reasons... so it has different meanings depending on the country.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
6 Apr 21
@kaylachan
Thanks for sharing the information. Have a great time ahead.
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
6 Apr 21
@yukimori
Yet I have seen some older British story writers too using double quotes. I will check what Agatha Christie uses.
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
8 Apr 21
@TheHorse
So Wikipedia seems to have more of a British influence!
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
9 Apr 21
@DianneN
Yes but there are variations in usage in different countries and places.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
7 Apr 21
@Shiva49
Yes, I have got some more interesting responses here.
Got to expand my knowledge as well.
1 person likes this
@ExplorewtMe (6333)
• Nairobi, Kenya
6 Apr 21
I too know that te double quotes are used for dialogues or representing tat it is being spoken by a person/character .
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45463)
• India
7 Apr 21
@ExplorewtMe
Yet I have seen quite many authors using single quotes for dialogues as well.
1 person likes this
